Western Kurdistan- Syria: Forty-three days after his arrest, the family of Hanan Abdel-Kader Mahmoud received his body, on 28 June 2010. He was 27 years old, and from the village of Cooley Katie in the Kobani area.
Hanan Abdel-Kader Mahmoud is the father of one child. He was arrested on 15 May 2010 by an Air Security patrol, and it was reported that he was going to be transferred to Damascus. All communication then stopped until his family received a call telling them that their son had died due to ill health in detention. His family was forced to write a pledge not to have his body examined before they buried him. His family heard that he died soon after arrest, and his body was then stored for twenty days in the freezer to allow signs of torture to disappear.
Arrests are still taking place in al-Raqqa, people live in a climate of fear and intimidation, there are security patrols roaming the streets and this is affecting many Kurds in the area. Many people are being held without charge and they are not allowed contact with their family.
Media Institute of West Kurdistan Society – al-Raqqa